Broken Doll
by lildreamer7
Summary: FINISHED! AU for Living Doll. Grillows version. All this time, the Miniature Killer had been hiding in plain sight. Warning! Major spoilers for Living Doll. Bit of SNickers thrown in as well.
1. Chapter 1

**Title:** Broken Doll

**Author:** lildreamer

**Rating:** K+

**Pairings:** Grillows…with a hint of Snickers

**Spoilers:** Living Doll

**Summary:** All this time, the Miniature Killer had been hiding in plain sight.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own CSI or any of its characters. They are the sole property of CBS and Jerry Bruckheimer. If I did, the season finale would have looked a little more like this.

**A/N:** This is an AU for Living Doll. The Grillows version. For all the PureJoy fans out there. And you don't have to wait three months for the conclusion!

**All right, on with the story…**

* * *

Grissom stared at the miniature, his face white. He had just moved aside the overturned car and uncovered something that made his heart stop. The body pinned beneath the red car was Catherine's. The doll's fingers clawed endlessly at the ground in a futile attempt to escape her demise.

He immediately pulled out his cell phone and pressed the speed dial, hoping that maybe the killer hadn't actually gotten to her yet. His face fell when his call was redirected to her voicemail. He swore, dropping his phone back into his pocket, and slumped into a seat.

He let his head drop into his hands, his mind buzzing with the events of the last few days. The clues to the Miniature Killer's identity were there, he just had to find them and piece them together. And fast. Catherine's life depended on it.

He lifted his head, trying to recall what Wendy had told him earlier about the serial killer. After running a DNA test on the epithelials he'd found on Trevor's miniature, the lab tech had discovered that its creator, most likely the miniature killer, was female.

_"Female serial killers are rare enough," Grissom said, cocking an eyebrow. "Delusional psychosis in women? Rarer still."_

_"Well, get ready for this," Wendy handed him a sheet of paper. "I ran the DNA through the computer and I got a hit."_

_"On CODIS?"_

_"Not exactly…"_

_Grissom arched an eyebrow and glanced down at the printout in his hands. His eyes quickly scanned the page until they landed on the item that had attracted the lab tech's attention. His eyebrows shot up._

_Match Found: CSI Sara Sidle._

He had immediately dismissed the surprising discovery as a computer glitch or just simply a mishandling of evidence. But now, he wasn't so sure.

Soon after, he'd learned where the materials for the miniature had been purchased. Trevor's tiny, metallic bracelet had led him to a store called Schuster's Hobby Shop where the owner revealed who he'd made it for. A pretty brunette named Natalie.

_"Control freaks with social problems, that's my bread and butter," Art, the shop owner explained, recalling his last meeting with the woman. "But this chick? She had crazy eyes."_

Now with the foster child's first name, they were finally able to persuade the court to release her records. They had learned that Natalie Davis had once lived in a foster home run by a Donna Wetzel. Grissom and Sofia had immediately gone over there to see what more they could learn about Natalie. What they found was the story of a child who, though shy and quiet most of the time, had caused more trouble than the foster mother could handle. The little girl would go berserk whenever the laundry was being done. And for some unknown reason, the troubled child repeatedly pushed another girl off the top bunk. Natalie had only been there a week before she had been removed.

_"After a few dozen kids, you get real good knowing the difference between damaged and broken," Donna had said, a sad look in her eyes. "Natalie was broken."_

Grissom scratched his head. He couldn't get that little girl's face out of his mind. There was something strangely familiar about that sad-looking girl in the photograph. But he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

He closed his eyes, remembering where he'd been earlier that day. It was the last time he'd seen Catherine. They'd been able to track down Natalie's biological father and found him working at one of the casinos on the strip. The man was a very talented ventriloquist, but his act left much to be desired.

After sitting through his odd and somewhat creepy performance, Grissom and Catherine had pulled him aside to ask him about his daughter. Hesitant at first, Christopher Davis, also known as The Great Rainone, began to tell the story of his two daughters, Natalie and Chloe. Things became stranger for the CSIs though when Davis suddenly chose to speak through his doll, who interestingly enough was also named Chloe.

The doll spoke of a much younger Natalie and how the girl accidentally pushed her sister out of the tree house, killing her. The young and confused girl watched as her sobbing father scrubbed up her sister's blood with a gallon of bleach.

"Chloe" became silent once more as Davis took up the story, admitting that after what had happened he could no longer handle caring for Natalie.

_"I had to give her up…" he whispered, his voice laced with regret._

Grissom suddenly bolted out of his seat and flew down the hallway toward the receptionist's desk.

"Has anyone been in my office?" he asked the staff assistant.

The woman shook her head. "No. No one."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, sir. No one's been—" The woman thought for a moment, suddenly recalling that she did see someone heading in that general direction earlier that day while he had been gone. "Wait a minute…yeah, there was someone. I think it was Ms. Sidle."

The pieces of the puzzle immediately flew together in Grissom's mind, producing a very grim picture. The truth suddenly hit him, hard: the Miniature Killer had been hiding in plain sight.

The Miniature Killer was Natalie.

And Natalie…

…was Sara.

* * *

**So, whaddaya think? I know…a bit confusing. I'll explain it all in the next chapter. Reviews are my muses!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey guys! Here's another chapter! Thanx 4 all the reviews...they rock! Enjoy!**

* * *

Warrick, Nick, and Greg studied the new miniature, trying to find any clue to the exact location of the scene. It was somewhere in the middle of the desert; that much was obvious. But with most of the state covered in desert, Catherine could be anywhere.

Grissom watched all this without taking note. He still couldn't believe that Sara was capable of murder. Then again, it wasn't really Sara, was it? It was Natalie. Natalie was the Miniature Killer. Sara had disappeared a long time ago.

"Hey, boss, where's Sara?" Greg asked, pulling the supervisor from his thoughts.

Grissom remained silent, a strange look on his face. He was trying to decide whether to tell them the truth or not.

"Gris?" Both Nick and Warrick looked up at him questioningly. "What's wrong?"

Deciding that the truth would work much better than a lie, he rattled off Natalie's details, including her true identity.

"So, Sara is the Miniature Killer?" Nick said, in disbelief.

Grissom shook his head. "No, Natalie is."

"But I thought you said Sara is Natalie," Warrick said, trying to understand.

"Yes and no."

They all stared at him, puzzled expressions on their faces.

"After Natalie left the foster home, she was adopted and renamed Sara," Grissom explained. "She embraced her new life. So much so that the little girl once known as Natalie and the life she once had was completely forgotten. Natalie no longer existed. At least, for a while.

"The troubled little girl was still there in Sara's subconscious, waiting. And the more Sara tried to suppress Natalie, the more she fought to be let out. And the more she fought, the stronger she grew, becoming more than just a part of Sara's past. Natalie became a second persona. Another personality trapped within Sara's mind, battling for dominance."

"So, what are you saying?" Warrick asked.

"Sara's personality split. It's called DID, dissociative identity disorder. Two personalities inhabiting a single body. Natalie is a part of Sara. A part of her that she tried to lock away once. But something caused Natalie to resurface. A stresser of some sort. God knows, Sara's been through a lot. Something must have gotten her pretty shaken up. And whatever it was reawakened the latent personality."

Greg scratched his head, trying to process all that information. "So Natalie's the Miniature Killer, but she's really Sara's evil alter ego."

Warrick rubbed his temples. "I can just hear the court case now."

Nick's mind throbbed. There could be no doubt about it. "They'll crucify her…"

"Hey, guys! I think I might have something here!"

All heads turned toward Greg who was holding the toy car in his hands, examining the back of it very closely.

"What'd you find, Greg?" Grissom asked, a glimmer of hope in his eyes.

The young CSI turned the car around and held a magnifier up to its rear bumper. "Girl really is a stickler for detail. It's got a license plate, complete with VIN number. I'll run it through the database."

An intense silence fell over the room as Greg entered the information into the computer. It didn't take long for the results to appear on the screen. The real car was wrecked in a DUI several weeks ago. A hint of recognition flashed across Grissom's face. He had worked that case alongside Catherine…and Sara.

He stared at the screen wide-eyed when Greg pulled up a photograph from the scene. Sara had been caught in the background of the picture. She seemed to be glancing at something out of frame, her eyes burning with a mixture of jealousy and rage. Grissom closed his eyes, knowing exactly what Sara had been looking at. She had been watching Catherine and him, noticing the smile on Grissom's face after Catherine had thrown out an unusual comment about their new case.

His mind went back to the miniature. This time, it was different. He knew that now. This time, it was personal.

"She holds me responsible for the death of Ernie Dell," he said, the realization finally hitting him. "I took away the only person she ever loved, so she's going to do the same thing to me."

All three guys stared at him in shock, barely able to grasp what their boss had just admitted. He was in love with Catherine.

Warrick opened his mouth to say something, but Grissom wasn't listening. He was still deep in thought, the gears in his mind working overtime.

"This isn't about a psychotic reaction to bleach, or her dead sister…"

* * *

Sofia and a team of cops headed for Sara's apartment, busting down the door when she didn't respond to their knocking. Sara immediately bolted for the window, climbed down the fire escape, and disappeared into the crowd below. She wandered through the streets, confused and overwhelmed. But she didn't get very far. 

Nick and Warrick were right on her tail. They spotted Sara quickly and grabbed her. As they led her out of the throng of people, Nick glanced down at her and their eyes met. But what he found there scared him.

He looked into the eyes of one of his closest friends…

…and he didn't recognize her.

"Sara…" Nick watched, still in disbelief, as an officer stuffed her into the back of his cruiser.

A hand touched his shoulder. "Dude, that's not our Sara anymore."

* * *

Brass and Grissom watched their friend from behind the two-way mirror. Sara sat there in the interrogation room, alone. But she wasn't really Sara, was she? She was Natalie. She was the Miniature Killer. She was just like any other criminal that passed through those doors. And then again, she wasn't. She was still their friend, at least on the outside. And that's what was making it so hard for either man to go in there and face her. 

"I—I want to go in there," Grissom said, in a barely audible whisper.

Brass gave him a look. "Are you sure? It's hard enough questioning a criminal. Questioning a friend is even harder."

Grissom took a deep breath, gathering his courage. "I can handle it."

Brass was still skeptical, but he let Grissom go.

Grissom hesitantly stepped into the room and introduced himself. Sara looked up at him and began glancing around frantically.

"Grissom?"

"Sara?" Grissom responded quickly, realizing that Sara had regained control for a moment.

"What—what's going on? Where am I?"

"Sara, we know about Natalie. She—"

"No, no." Sara shook her head. "No, Natalie—she can't—she…"

Sara's voice trailed off and her eyes fluttered.

"Sara?" Grissom asked, worriedly. Something was wrong. "Sara, are you okay? Sara?"

Sara's eyes suddenly flew open, a menacing smile on her face.

"Guess again!"

Grissom pulled back, eyes wide. "Natalie."

* * *

**Wow…kinda creepy, huh? What's Gris gonna do now? Review to find out!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey, everyone! I'm back! Been away for a while...anyway, here's a couple more chapters for your reading pleasure. Thanx 4 all the reviews! Enjoy!**

* * *

After recovering from the initial shock of witnessing the drastic change in Sara's personality, Grissom pulled himself together and began talking to her gently, flattering her artistry. A tactic used on criminals similar to her to gain information. He needed to make her feel special. Give her the attention that she wanted.

"I've been a crime scene investigator for over 22 years and worked over two thousand homicides," he told her, almost admiringly. "You are by far the best I've ever seen."

Natalie remained silent, but Grissom's words seemed to have aroused her interest.

"And this last one—you did an excellent job. Somehow, you managed to kidnap a CSI without getting caught, brought her out into the middle of the desert, and dropped a car on top of her. It's the perfect crime."

The woman's smile faded.

"The perfect murder."

"No, no," Natalie shook her head. "No, she's not dead. Not dead."

That was exactly what Grissom wanted to hear. His hopes rekindled at the woman's words. Catherine was still alive. He cleared his throat continuing with his act.

"She's not dead? Are you sure? You killed all the others. That means she has to be dead, too."

Natalie glared at him angrily. "Her, her, her! It's always about her!"

She suddenly pulled a sharp razor from her mouth and slashed at Grissom's throat. Caught off guard, the man grabbed at his neck trying to stop the bleeding. He stared into her crazed eyes in shock, blood leaking from between his fingers, liquid and hot. He was dying…

But it was only a hallucination. Natalie had slipped into a delusional state, singing her father's song about his Little Bisque Doll with a "pain in her sawdust."

"Tell me where Catherine is!" Grissom shouted, trying to shake her out of it.

But she just kept singing.

* * *

Somewhere out in the desert, Catherine is trapped under a car, alive. Her fingers claw at the muddy ground in desperation. It's raining. And there's no way out. 


	4. Chapter 4

"This is impossible." Warrick ran his hands over his face tiredly. He and Greg had been going through stacks of police reports and evidence for so long that the words were starting to wiggle and melt together on the pages. "It's like trying to find a needle in a haystack."

Greg rested his elbows on the table, letting his head fall into his hands. "It's like trying to find a needle in a stack of needles."

"Hey, guys," Nick said, walking into the room, a manila folder in his hands. "Find anything, yet?"

Warrick shook his head. "Nah…we've studied that miniature a hundred times, gone though all her stuff, examined her clothes, interviewed everyone she'd been in contact with recently—nothing. The closest thing we got to a lead was some dirt on her shoes. Sent a sample to Hodges, but I have a feeling it's not gonna help. Girl's good. Real good. Frankly, I think it's gonna take a miracle to find Catherine."

"Hey, don't give up hope yet." Nick set the folder down on the table and flipped it open. "Gris and I found this when we went through Sara's apartment."

Inside the folder was a photograph. An old photograph of a man and a little girl, both familiar to the CSIs. The man was a younger Ernie Dell, still full of life. The little girl was Natalie, probably only nine or ten years old at the time the picture was taken. But it wasn't the people in the picture that had caught their attention; it was the background. They were standing somewhere out in the middle of the desert.

"What Natalie did," Nick explained. "took a whole lot of planning and organization. She knew exactly what needed to be done and where she was going. She'd been there before. And I think this might be it." He poked a finger at the photograph. "Wherever this is."

Warrick arched an eyebrow. "And how exactly were you planning to figure that out?"

"Brass is gonna try to question Natalie again."

"Well, let's hope he has better luck than we did."

"Where's Gris?" Greg asked, speaking up for the first time.

Nick shrugged. After the two had returned to the lab and dropped off their new evidence, Grissom had taken off again. To where? He had no clue.

* * *

Grissom stepped up to the familiar house and rang the doorbell. He heard the chime echo inside then heard someone yell, "I got it!" Hurried footsteps followed. The lock clicked and the door swung open.

A young teenage girl stood there, Ipod in hand, smiling up at him.

Grissom did his best to return the smile. "Hi, Lindsey."

"Hey, Uncle Gil! Where's my mom? She working late again?"

At the mention of his friend, the smile faded from his face. He looked down at the young girl, but all he could see was her mother. She looked so much like her. Especially that smile. He knew that after he did what went there to do, that smile would crumble. And his heart along with it. This was gonna be harder than he thought. But the girl had a right to know. She was old enough to understand.

"Uh…can I come in?"

Lindsey moved aside to let him in. "Yeah, sure." She shut the door behind him and watched as he made his way over to the couch and sank into a seat. "What's wrong?"

Lindsey was a smart girl and knew, though he hadn't said anything, that something was bothering him. She saw it in the way he'd looked at her in the doorway. She sat down across from him in the big, comfy armchair. "Did something happen to my mom?"

Grissom stared down at the carpet, preparing himself for what he was about to say. Knowing that no matter how he said it, it would break the girl's heart.

"Lindsey, I—" His voice quavered though he tried to control it. "There's something you need to know. Your mother—she—she's been—she was kidnapped. And I—we don't know where she is. We tried—but she…"

The girl stared at him, on the verge of tears. "What are you saying?"

Grissom finally met her gaze and a lump caught in his throat at the sight of her. The color had drained from her face and she looked completely distraught. It made him want to cry.

"Lindsey, your mom—she might not come home this time…"

"No…" Tears began to stream down the girl's face. She stood from her seat and backed away from Grissom as if he were some kind of monster. "No, no!"

"Lindsey?" Grissom called as the girl took off toward her room. He ran after her, wanting to make sure she was all right. But who was he kidding? She'd never be all right. Neither of them would. "Lindsey!"

He pulled up at her bedroom just as the door slammed shut. "Lindsey, please…" He heard her sad sobs through the door and it broke his heart. Tears suddenly blurred his vision. "I wish I could…If there was—if there was just some way…I—I'd give anything if…I could just…"

He leaned against the wall as a shadow crept into his mind like a black cloud, spreading, pushing away light and hope, stripping away every thought but one: Catherine.

He raised his eyes. All he could see was Catherine working a scene and making a teasing face, a crooked half-smile, while he discreetly took her picture. It was the last smile he could remember, but just like the sunset it faded. Though he tried to hear her laugh again, or even say his name, only silence answered.

The emotion was suddenly beyond him and tears began to slide down his face. "I'm sorry, Lindsey. I'm so sorry…"

* * *

After being locked up for a few hours and sitting through a session with a psychologist, Natalie had finally slipped out of her delusional state. She stopped singing, but it hadn't helped her personality any. She was still as nasty and uncooperative as ever.

"Hello, Natalie," Brass said, sitting across from her at the interrogation room table. "Do you know who I am?"

The girl looked him over with a sneering judgmental eye. "I know who you are…_detective_," she spat, bitterly.

Brass did his best to control his temper, but his patience was wearing thin. "I want to talk to Sara."

Natalie smirked. "I'm sorry, Sara's not here right now. Please leave a message after the tone…BEEP!"

He glared at her angrily. "Either you let me talk to Sara or I'll have your butt hauled back into that cell. And you can have another talk with that quack and listen to all that psycho-babble."

Natalie crossed her arms and leaned back in her seat with a haughty air of confidence. She wasn't about to let her other half out.

"Fine." Brass motioned to the nearby officer. "Get her outta here."

Brass followed them out and shook his head, watching as she was led away. She was one tough egg to crack.

Just then, Nick walked by, headed toward the detective. As he walked past the officers dragging Natalie away, Brass noticed something interesting. Natalie suddenly looked up and watched the CSI, a hint of recognition flashing across her face. Nick turned just in time to catch Natalie staring at him. But it wasn't Natalie that he saw.

It was Sara.

Her gaze softened as their eyes met, but just as quickly, her eyes hardened once again. Natalie had recovered from her momentary lapse in control. But that was enough. Enough to convince the detective that Sara was still in there. Maybe she just needed the right person to coax her out.

* * *

After a long conversation with Brass, Nick returned to the lab to give his teammates an update on their progress with Natalie. So far, she was nothing but a wall that they couldn't break through.

"I knew he'd never get anything out of that whackjob," Warrick remarked, shaking his head.

Nick glared at his friend angrily. "Hey, cool it, man! That's Sara you're talking about!"

"Dude, that nutcase over at the station is _not _Sara. Sara is gone!"

"Sara is _not_ gone!" Nick growled. "She's still in there somewhere, I know it."

"How can you be so sure?"

"I saw her, Rick. When I went to the station. She looked at me. That was Sara looking at me. She recognized me."

"Are you sure that wasn't just your mind playing tricks on you. We're all upset over what's been going on. Catherine's been kidnapped. One of our closest friends is a serial killer. I mean, c'mon—"

"It wasn't my imagination!" Nick screamed, his anger boiling. "I know what I saw!"

"WILL BOTH OF YOU JUST SHUT UP!"

The two men turned to find Greg standing there, huffing, his face bright red. He'd been standing there the entire time they were arguing and he just couldn't take it anymore. He had to stop it before it got out of hand.

"You two need to cool it, now! We've got a friend out there who's counting on us to find her before it's too late. And another who's lost in her own mind. They need us to figure this out, fast. We can't waste time arguing with each other." Greg walked over to the workbench and scooped up a folder, accidentally knocking over the entire stack. "Now, let's all get back to work. Shall we?"

"Hey, what's that?" Nick noticed something softly float to the ground.

Greg bent down to pick up the piece of paper and examined it. "It's a receipt. Some gas station near Laughlin."

Warrick cocked an eyebrow. "Now how did that get there?"

Nick smiled. "Sara."

* * *

**Yay, now they're getting somewhere! What other clues will they find? Review to find out!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey, ya'll! Here's another chapter! Sorry it took me so long to update…been away for the summer! But now, I'm back! And I promise, this will be complete before the new season starts. So, enjoy!**

* * *

"Hey, how'd it go?" 

Both Warrick and Greg turned just as Nick trudged into the room, shoulders slumped, looking defeated. He'd just returned from trying to talk to Natalie and by the looks of it, it hadn't gone too well. Without a response, Nick slumped into a seat next to the desk, his head hung low.

"You couldn't get through to her, could you?" Warrick approached his friend and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry, buddy. I tried to—" Something suddenly caught his attention. "Nicky?"

He didn't turn. "Huh?"

"What are these marks on your neck?"

Without turning, Nick raised his hand and touched four angry-looking scratches.

"May I see?" Warrick asked, careful not to upset his friend even more.

Nick straightened but didn't turn. He sat motionless as Warrick pulled back the collar of his shirt. Four blazing red marks reached from below and behind his left ear to the top of his shoulder. They were scratch marks, thin gouges made by a human hand. They'd all seen thousands in their careers, usually delivered by a woman fending off an attacker.

Warrick gently let go of his shirt, frowning. "Dude, what happened in there? What did she do to you?"

Nick finally turned to face him. At first his face was filled with fury and his eyes blazed in anger, but it only lasted for a moment. The sorrow replaced the anger. He slumped deeper into his seat, his eyes fixed on the ground again.

"I tried to talk to her…to Sara…but Natalie…" He shook his head. Then his shoulders began to quake. "She's too strong…"

* * *

"_Let me talk to Sara."_

"_No," Natalie replied coolly._

_Not one to give up so easily, Nick pressed on. "Sara, I know you're still in there. If you can hear me, you've got to fight her."_

_Natalie laughed. "You are so pathetic. Your precious little Sara is gone."_

_Nick glared at her. "No, she isn't. You haven't gotten rid of her completely."_

"_True. It's still her body on the outside, but on the inside, it's all me—AHH!" She suddenly grabbed her head, in terrible pain._

_Nick sat bolt upright, alarmed. "What's going on? What's wrong?"_

_A soft voice spoke from beneath her hands. "Nick…help me…"_

_His eyes widened. "Sara?"_

"_Shut up! Shut up!" Natalie screamed, shaking her head violently. "Leave me alone!"_

_Taking a dangerous risk, Nick grabbed her shoulders, trying to keep her from hurting herself. "Sara! Sara! C'mon, girl, fight her!"_

_Natalie finally stopped shaking and quieted, her head bowed low._

"_Sara?"_

_She looked up at him, her gaze softened. Nick looked back at her, relieved. She'd won. Or at least he thought she had. Her gaze suddenly hardened and she scowled at him menacingly. He immediately backed off, but not before she reached up and tried to grab him._

_He yelped in pain, grabbing the back of his neck, and stared at her in shock and confusion. Natalie looked back at him, smiling evilly. But within her mind, Sara was crying._

I'm so sorry, Nick…I'm sorry…

_Growing weaker, Sara retreated back into the depths of her own mind._

* * *

Nick stopped speaking and Warrick and Greg studied him for a moment. He was a cracked eggshell on the verge of splitting open. Warrick gave him a few moments before asking, "Is that where the scratches on your neck came from?" 

He sighed heavily, nodding his head in reply.

"Hey, you guys! I think I might've found something!"

All three men jumped at the sudden disruption and turned toward the doorway. Hodges was standing there, grinning from ear to ear, eager to share something important.

"What's up?" Greg asked.

The lab tech waltzed into the room and handed him the results from the tests he'd run on the dirt sample they'd given him.

"Turns out that stuff on her shoes wasn't just dirt," he explained. "Well, it was dirt…but there was something else. Pollen."

Warrick arched an eyebrow. "Pollen? From what?"

"Glad you asked," Hodges said, his ego beginning to show. "The pollen was from a flower that begins blooming around this time and only on sandy flats. A desert lily."

Nick pictured the plant in his mind. A foot-high stem bearing a large, white, trumpet-shaped flower that resembled an Easter lily. His eyes widened. He'd seen one very recently. In Sara's apartment. It had been cut and put into a clear vase on her worktable, surrounded by miniatures. It had seemed a bit out of place, but maybe it had been put there for reason. Almost as if it was meant to be seen.

But Natalie was too smart to just leave such an important piece of evidence lying around like that.

Unless, it hadn't been her at all.

It was a message. A message left by someone that was trying to reach out to them. Someone that needed to be heard. Now, all she needed was someone to listen. And someone was.

"Hey, you okay?" Warrick asked, turning at the sound of something coming into contact with the desk.

Nick slammed his fist into the tabletop, letting out a low growl. "I have to go back."

"What!?" Warrick's eyes widened. "No! You can't!"

"She's too dangerous!" Greg protested, reminding him of his previous encounter with Sara's unstable alter ego.

"It's just a few scratches. Nothing that a few stitches and bandages won't cure."

"Yeah, this time," Warrick said warily. "But next time you might not be so lucky."

"I don't care." Nick stood from his seat and headed for the door. "Sara's my friend. And I won't let that sick, twisted psychopath control her anymore." He made his way from the room, more determined than ever to save his friend. "Sorry…I won't give up."

* * *

**You want more? You know what to do!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey, ya'll! Here's another chappy! Thanx 4 all the reviews! Enjoy!**

* * *

With Brass, Grissom, Warrick, and Greg watching from behind the two-way mirror, Nick took a deep breath and entered the interrogation room to face Natalie one more time. She sat there behind the table, her head low, her index finger tracing invisible circles on the tabletop. She froze when she heard someone come into the room and looked up. She looked Nick over with a sneering, judgmental eye.

"You again."

"Yeah, me," Nick said, taking a seat opposite her.

"Don't you guys ever give up? Whoever you're looking for, she's not here."

Nick arched an eyebrow. "Is that so?"

Natalie sat up a little straighter. She didn't like the look on the CSI's face. He was hiding something. "What are you playing at?"

An officer that had been standing guard at the door handed him something then walked out of the room. "Then explain this." Nick placed an evidence bag on the table.

The color drained from Natalie's face when she saw what was inside. A single, white flower. A desert lily.

"No! Where did you get that?"

"Don't you remember? You left it on your desk. My colleague and I found it when we went to search your place."

Natalie looked scared. "No! No! That can't be right. I made sure—there was nothing left. Nothing!" Her fear suddenly turned into anger and she started screaming, her words seemingly directed at no one in particular. But they knew better. "You! You did this! Didn't you? You tricked me! You little b—ARRGH!"

She grabbed her head, just like before. The pain seemed unbearable. Seeing that she was now vulnerable, Nick took the chance to try to reach out to Sara.

"Sara! Sara! C'mon, fight her!"

"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!"

"Don't let her win!"

"NO!!!" Natalie suddenly leapt from her seat and grabbed Nick by the throat, pinning him to the wall.

* * *

Springing into action, Grissom, Warrick and Greg quickly made for the door. But Brass held them back. 

"No," he said, quiet authority in his voice. "It's all right."

"But—" Greg began to protest.

"Why isn't there a uniform in there?" Warrick demanded.

"He asked me not to have one in there," Brass replied, simply.

"But that's stupid. Why would he do that?"

"He knows what he's doing." Brass turned his attention back to the two-way mirror, a look of concern on his face. _I hope._

* * *

Nick did not struggle and just stared at Natalie, his eyes pleading with hers. "Sar—_ack_—please…don't do this." 

Natalie's hands squeezed tighter around his neck, making him gasp. Then her face suddenly softened.

"Nick?"

"Sa—Sara?" Nick coughed, his lungs burning from lack of air.

"Where are you? It's dark."

"I'm—_ack_—I'm right here."

"I'm sorry…"

"Sara," Nick gasped, the last molecules of oxygen disappearing from his lungs. "Listen to me…there are people who care about you…be strong…believe in yourself…I promise, I'll—_ack_—I'll help you…"

A single tear fell quietly from Sara's eyes.

Then her gazed hardened, her face twisted with rage.

"Leave me alone!" Natalie screamed, releasing Nick and grabbing her head. "I won't share this body!"

Nick slid down the wall and onto the floor, gasping for air. He rubbed his throat and watched helplessly as Sara fought to regain control of her mind. And Natalie trying to stop her any way that she could.

"Get out of my head!!!"

"No, I won't," Sara responded firmly. As she said that, she felt something brush against her mind.

Memories.

Grissom coming to be with her after she'd been suspended from work. Warrick helping her out with a case. Greg flirting with her. Catherine and her sharing a joke about men. And Nick always watching out for her. Always.

She reached out to those memories. She reached out to them for strength.

Natalie felt this and panicked. "No, no, no!"

"I won't let you take my life away from me!" As Sara began to grow stronger, the hold Natalie had on her began to weaken. "I've got people I care about a lot!"

With that, Sara sank to her knees, shaking. Nick immediately went to her and knelt beside her. He wrapped his arms around her, holding her, as she began to sob.

"Shh…" he whispered, hugging her tight, comforting her. "It's okay. It over. Natalie's gone."

She looked up at him and smiled weakly. "Thank you…"

Nick smiled back and suddenly noticed that Sara had stopped shaking, stopped moving completely. Her eyelids were drooping. She had put her body through tremendous strain fighting off Natalie and now it was shutting down.

Nick turned his head toward the two-way mirror. "Get an ambulance down here, now!"

"Nick…" Sara whispered, very weak. She was fighting to stay conscious. "Catherine…"

Nick's head snapped back toward the woman in his arms. He'd almost forgotten about the case. "Sara, do you know where Catherine is?"

Sara's eyes fluttered. "Yes…"

* * *

**Yay! Almost done! Wanna know what happens next? Review!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey, ya'll! Here's the final chapter and a little epilogue for your reading pleasure. Thanx 4 all the reviews!**

**And now, the conclusion...**

* * *

Brass had an iron grip on the wheel and a determined set in his jaw as he drove his car through the Nevada desert, lights flashing, and veered onto a service road. Behind him came a squad car carrying a couple of deputies, the Denali carrying Grissom and Greg, an ambulance with four paramedics, and behind that, a dusty old rig carrying a crane and its operator. 

Sofia rode in the car beside him, her cell phone plastered to her ear, eyes intent on the road. "How much farther?"

Brass got on the radio. "Chopper Oh-6, we are entering the service road. Any fix on the vehicle?"

* * *

High above, riding in a department helicopter, Warrick eyed the old road that snaked through the dry, desert terrain. Two other officers rode with him. Where the road began to fade from mountainous desert to sandy flats, Warrick spotted the red and gray rectangle he was looking for. 

"Brass, I have the vehicle, about four miles up the road. No activity, but we'll stick around. Drive safe, everybody."

* * *

Brass drove as fast as "safe" would allow, the wheels pounding over ruts and potholes, the car nearly bottoming its springs. The other vehicles stayed right behind him.

* * *

Grissom pressed his fingers against Catherine's carotid artery. The pulse was weak but steady. "Catherine! _Catherine!_" 

She opened her eyes. It took her a moment before recognition settled, but finally she smiled. "Gil, you're all right."

"So are you," he lied. He kissed her gently, almost imperceptibly on the cheek, afraid he might snuff out whatever spark of life remained.

"Hello," Catherine said to all the wonderful people in uniform who were stepping into the shallow depression the car had made to get to her.

The medics went right to work, assessing her vitals. One shined a light in her eyes. The pupils responded.

She pointed to the passenger side of the car.

The medics were too busy saving her life to look. Warrick and Greg followed her direction and found a needle and syringe in the seat. And sitting right beside it a bottle of morphine.

Greg took a flashlight from his pocket and shined it into the shattered window. He smiled. "More evidence."

The medic tending to her smiled. "A nasty bump on the head, a few broken ribs, but nothing too serious. The drugs have probably worn off by now. She'll make it."

Grissom let out breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding until now. "Thank God."

* * *

Warrick could not believe everything that had gone on that day. With what little clues they had, it had seemed next to impossible. But Nick had somehow broken through to Sara and had gotten her to tell him exactly where Natalie had taken Catherine. And they had found her alive and with minimal injuries. And he had not yet recovered, even as he snapped photos of the scene and of the trashed car. 

_Click! Click! Click!_ The clearing from several compass directions.

_Click!_ The location of the car in the clearing.

_Click!_ The car, wide shot.

_Click! _A close-up of the drug paraphernalia on the passenger-side seat, compliments of Natalie Davis. She had used the morphine to subdue Catherine.

_Click! _A close-up of a torn sticker on the windshield, compliments of the impound lot where it had disappeared from several weeks ago.

_Click, click, click!_ Warrick lowered the camera and shook his head—something he'd been doing incessantly since he had arrived.

Nick had left Sara at the hospital and had arrived only a few moments later to help process the scene. Now he came over to see if his friend needed any help.

Warrick gazed at him, struggled for words, and finally came up with, "I never should've doubted you, Nicky. I'm sorry, man."

"It's all right, Rick. Next time—" Nick smiled and waved that one off. "No, we don't want a next time."

"Nah, we sure don't."

They shared a laugh and then a handshake.

* * *

As the paramedics lifted Catherine onto a stretcher, Grissom gave her a special smile and took her hand in his. "Ready to come home?" he asked. 

"Anywhere with you."

He gave her hand a gentle squeeze. "Come on. Let's get you to a hospital."


	8. Epilogue

**EPILOGUE**

_Three weeks later…_

Catherine looked through the glass door at Sara, who stood by the flowers in Grissom's lawn, touching and smelling the roses as if she'd never seen one before. Grissom stood beside her, gazing out. Sara had spent the last seven days in a prison cell, awaiting an extended bail hearing that had ended three hours earlier. Persuading the judge that Sara wasn't a flight risk was a simple matter; convincing him that Sara wasn't a threat to society wasn't. But somehow Sara's attorney had managed.

The press had slaughtered Sara that first day, but as the details of her childhood leaked out over the next week, their tenor had changed—Nick had seen to that. They'd held a news conference and revealed her past in all of its horrifying detail. Sara was simply role-playing as only a child who'd been severely traumatized and fractured could role-play.

Was she insane? No, but she couldn't tell them that yet. The courts would put her through the wringer, and legal insanity was her only defense. In many ways she _had_ been legally insane, but she seemed to have emerged from the entire ordeal with a full grasp of herself, perhaps for the first time in her life. Patients who suffered from dissociative identity disorder typically required years of therapy to pull themselves free of the alternate personalities.

The good news was that Sara could hardly be better. She would need help, but Catherine had never seen such a sudden shift.

"Gil," Catherine asked. "Did you guys ever figure out what caused Natalie to resurface?"

"We're not sure, but whatever it was happened nearly two years ago."

"So, all this time…it was Sara?" She sighed. "This is way too complicated."

Grissom ran his fingers over his bearded chin. "Maybe so. Do you rely on your intuition very often, Catherine?"

"Well, yeah. All the time. Intuition leads to evidence, which leads to answers. It's what makes us ask the right questions."

"Hmm. And what does your intuition tell you about Sara?"

She thought about it for a moment. "That she's innocent either way. That she's a good person. That she's nothing like Natalie."

"_The good that I would, that I do not, but that which I would not, that I do_."

Catherine looked up at him, a puzzled expression on her face.

"She's a walking, living personification of man's dual nature."

"After hearing about what happened when I disappeared, I'm not even going to argue with you, Gil." She nodded at Sara. "You think she's…okay?"

"Okay?" Grissom's right eyebrow went up. He smiled. "I'm sure she'll be glad to see you, if that's what you mean."

Catherine felt exposed. He could see more than she meant for him to see, couldn't he?

"Take your time. I have a few phone calls to make." He walked back to join the others in the living room, who were laughing at something on the TV.

She crossed her arms and looked back out at Sara, who was staring at a cloud formation now.

Though the two women were teammates, they hadn't exactly been the best of friends. They had never really spoken to each other outside of work, much less hung out. They were two very different women, their experiences miles apart. But as Catherine watched Sara that day, her perceptions of her changed. She could see the yearning in the younger woman's eyes. She needed support in her search for strength and a new start. She needed a friend.

From the corner of her eye, she caught Nick coming out of the kitchen balancing a stack of soda cans in his hands. He gave her a smile as he passed.

"Nick."

He turned back. "Yeah?"

"Thank you. She…we…_We_ owe our lives to you."

"Hey, that's what friends do. We look out for each other." He grinned deliberately and walked away.

Catherine waited until the boys were distracted by Warrick and Greg, who were wrestling each other for the remote. She slid the glass door open and stepped onto the patio. "Hello, Sara."

She turned, eyes bright. "Catherine! I didn't know you were here."

"I had some time." As much as she tried to ignore the fact, there was a unique bond between them. Whether it was because they'd worked together for years or her own generous spirit or more, she didn't know. Time would tell.

Sara glanced back at the roses. Her eyes couldn't hold Catherine's unwaveringly as they had before—she'd lost a certain innocence. But Catherine preferred her that way.

"I'm taking some time off," she said.

"You are?"

"Yeah, I am."

"What for?"

"Well, seeing as you're gonna be going through a lot these next few months, I thought you might like some help."

"You'd do that, for me?" Sara said quietly. She couldn't help but glance down at Catherine's hands, which were still marred with cuts and bruises. "I don't deserve it…not after what I put you through."

Catherine smiled wryly. "Hey, it's no big deal. Here I am, fine and healthy. I'm okay, really. And now all I wanna do is make sure _you're_ okay. I hate seeing you hurt the way you are. And I want you to know even though we don't always get along, you have someone who cares about you and wants to be your friend. I'll always be here for you, Sara, because you're my 'sister.'"

"Wow…" A lump formed in Sara's throat, feeling her chest tighten. "I—I don't know what to say."

Catherine took two steps forward and pulled her into a hug. "You don't have to say anything."

Sara stood there in Catherine's warm embrace, her face screwed up against the overwhelming flood of emotions that had begun to surface. She'd never felt this kind of love before. This kind of forgiveness. A tear trickled down her cheeks, followed by another and another. And she hugged Catherine back just as tightly. For the first time, in a long time, she understood where she belonged.

After a moment, the two women pulled apart and realized that they had both been crying. They shared a laugh, drying their eyes. Then Catherine put her arm around Sara's shoulders, escorting her back inside.

"It's not gonna be easy, but I'll be there every step of the way. I promise."

* * *

**The end. Aww…isn't that sweet? So, whaddaya think? Love it? Hate it? Feedback welcome…as always! Oh, and don't forget to check out my other stories! See ya around:)****Rom. 7:15-25**


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